Page 322 sur 3800

And not only externally was all in order, but had it pleased the

commander in chief to look under the uniforms he would have found

on every man a clean shirt, and in every knapsack the appointed

number of articles, "awl, soap, and all," as the soldiers say.

There was only one circumstance concerning which no one could be

at ease. It was the state of the soldiers' boots. More than half

the men's boots were in holes. But this defect was not due to any

fault of the regimental commander, for in spite of repeated

demands boots had not been issued by the Austrian commissariat,

and the regiment had marched some seven hundred miles.